Author: Kalantarian Kevo

BusinessWeek / Bloomberg
Aug 10 2014

Putin Pushes Talks Over Karabakh Amid Discord Near Russia

By Ilya Arkhipov

Talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan yielded nothing
after Russian President Vladimir Putin brokered their first meeting in
nine months following the deadliest clashes between the ex-Soviet
republics in 20 years.

The meeting between the Azeri and Armenian leaders, Ilham Aliyev and
Serzh Sargsyan, was “useful,” with both presidents reaffirming their
commitment to “seeking a solution exclusively on the basis of a
peaceful approach,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told
reporters in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Two days of talks at the Russian leader’s retreat were marked by
another fatality on the frontlines of the disputed border region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, with an Azeri soldier killed last night by Armenian
fire, according to the Defense Ministry in Baku. That brought the
death toll to 24 since July 26.

Video: Donohue: Putin, Rebels Behind Ukraine Tragedy

The clashes are threatening to ignite another conflict on Russia’s
doorstep as the worst geopolitical standoff since the Cold War
continues over Ukraine. The southern Caucasus countries, which border
Turkey and Iran, signed a cease-fire brokered by Russia in 1994 after
more than 30,000 people were killed and over a 1.2 million displaced.

Armenians took over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts
from Azerbaijan in a war after the Soviet breakup in 1991. The truce
left 20,000 Armenian and Azeri troops, dug into World War I-style
trenches sometimes only 100 meters (330 feet) apart, according to the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

‘Soviet Legacy’

The conflict is part of the region’s “Soviet legacy,” Putin said as he
opened negotiations today. “We must show patience, wisdom and respect
for each other to find a solution.”

Video: Russia Accuses Ukraine of Shelling

The Azeri and Armenian leaders traded accusations in Putin’s presence
today, blaming each other for violating international agreements on
Karabakh. Still, both presidents said they support a peaceful solution
to the conflict and praised Putin for his mediation efforts.

“Any conflict can be solved if there is good will,” Putin said. “I
think there is such a good will from Azerbaijan’s people and from the
Armenian people.”

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 10 2014

Azerbaijan’s and Armenia’s goodwill are crucial for resolution of
Karabakh conflict, Putin says

10 August 2014 – 4:28pm

Th presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia – Vladimir Putin,
Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan- met in the Southern Russian city of
Sochi today. The parties focused on the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Addressing his counterparts, President Putin stressed that
Azerbaijan’s and Armenia’s goodwill is crucial for a resolution of the
Karabakh conflict

“I am pleased that the president of Azerbaijan has just confirmed his
government’s willingness to resolve the conflict peacefully. The most
important thing is to prevent a tragedy, to prevent the deaths of
people,” Putin said.

“All the problems can be solved if the parties demonstrate goodwill,”
the Russian president said.

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan also agreed that the Karabakh
conflict has been frozen for too long and should be resolved.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 10 2014

What do the three presidents meet for?

10 August 2014 – 10:55pm
Oleg Kusov. Exclusively for VK

The meeting that the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents held
today was the 11th in the 21st century. Russian President Vladimir
Putin has been taking part in the talks since September 2004, when he
attended the meeting held in Astana. Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev attended all 11 meetings, his Armenian counterpart Serzh
Sargsyan only ten, but all three incumbent presidents met in Sochi for
the first time. In 2004 Putin and Aliyev met with Robert Kocharyan,
who then served as the head of the Armenian state.

Then there was a gap of four years, as the next trilateral meeting
took place only in 2008. In November 2004 the so-called “Moscow
marathon” began. Within four years the three presidents met nine
times! This period differed greatly from the 90s, when not only
trilateral but even bilateral meetings were rare. However the
political atmosphere at those times was quite different. The Bishkek
peace protocol was signed in May 1994 and bloodshed stopped. It was
necessary to stabilize the situation. All parties, including Moscow,
had their own position on the way the conflict should be resolved, but
no one wanted to put pressure on its partners, risking the fragile
peace. President Aliyev decided to focus on developing the Azerbaijani
economy, based on production of oil and gas and construction of
pipelines to Turkey via the territory of Georgia. In order to pursue
its own interests the country had to establish a successful economy.
Armenia was facing the same challenge, it also had to draft an
economic strategy. The economic situation in Armenia was the most
difficult in the South Caucasus. Armenia ignored four UN resolutions
calling for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan issued in 1993.
Despite the position of the international community, Karabakh and
seven districts of Azerbaijan remain occupied by the Armenian forces.
Still, many believed that the OSCE Minsk Group established in March
1992 would be able to resolve the conflict soon.

The “Moscow marathon” took place, when Dmitry Medvedev served as the
Russian president. According to politicians and experts, it was the
Madrid principles that were discussed during the meeting held within
this period. The Madrid principles were suggested to the parties
involved in the conflict in 2007. However the text of the document was
not published. According to official representatives of Azerbaijan,
the document called for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The
Armenian authorities, however, stressed that the principles drafted in
Madrid called for Karabakh’s self-determination. Some experts said
that the Russian president urged the parties to draft a new document.

Presidents Dmitry Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan met for
the first time on November 2, 2008. The participants of the trilateral
meeting signed a joint declaration. There were no legal formulas in
this document. The declaration only specified the main principles of
the conflict resolution. “The parties are willing to contribute to the
improvement of the situation in the South Caucasus and the formation
of an atmosphere of stability and security in the region through a
political resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the
principles of international law. The parties have agreed that in order
to secure a peaceful resolution of the conflict they should be
provided with legal guarantees by the international community,” the
declarations said. After that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
ordered their foreign ministers to enhance peace efforts backed by the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

On June 4, 2009 another trilateral meeting was held in St. Petersburg
in the framework of the international economic forum held in the city.
On July 18 the three presidents met in Moscow. Neither summit produced
results. In St. Petersburg they even failed to make a joint statement
to the press. The Russian president’s press secretary tried to stress
that the meeting was useful anyway. “The very fact that the meeting
took place shows that the parties are ready to maintain dialogue aimed
at a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict,” the press
secretary said. Following the Moscow meeting the three presidents did
not even appear together in the presidential horse race. Journalists
paid special attention to this fact.

On January 25, 2015 another trilateral meeting was held in Sochi. The
meeting was held in the middle of the ratification process of
Turkish-Armenian agreement. The process concerned the Karabakh
conflict resolution as well. According to Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov, during the Sochi summit the parties almost agreed the
opening passage of the Madrid principles – two years after the
document was first drafted. In summer 2010 another St. Petersburg
international economic forum was held. Ilham Alieyv and Serzh
Sargsyan, who both attended the event, met on June 17. Once again the
presidents focused on the Karabakh conflict. Before the meeting
journalists were discussing whether any progress in the peace talks is
possible at all. The meeting held in St. Petersburg showed that the
dialogue is continuing even though no progress has been made so far.

The third trilateral meeting took place the same year, on October 27.
The three presidents met in Astrakhan. The most optimistic statement
was made by President Dmitry Medvedev right before the talks started.
However the meeting itself did not produce any results.

Politicians were much more optimistic after the trilateral meeting
held in Sochi on March 5, 2011. The presidents issued a joint
statement, according to which they were committed to continue dialogue
aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The most promising was the meeting held in Kazan on June 24, 2011. It
was expected that the president would agree the basic principles of
the Madrid document. However it was not done. The parties only
declared that they are willing to secure a peaceful resolution of
conflict.

The tenth and the last meeting for President Medvedev was held in
Sochi on January 23, 2012, on the initiative of the Russian president.
Reporters said that the meeting was merely formal. According to them,
it was the end of President Medvedev’s peacemaking efforts.

The nine trilateral meetings organized by President Dmitry Medvedev
produced no results. The parties did not come closer to a resolution
of the Karabakh conflict. What caused President Medvedev’s peace
efforts? There are several possible answers to this question. Some say
Moscow was afraid that foreign powers might unfreeze the Karabakh
conflict and send a peacekeeping contingent to the region in order to
put pressure on Iran. At the time, politicians and experts were
seriously discussing the possibility of a US military operation
against the country. Others believed that the reason was the
Russian-Georgian war and Moscow’s desire to secure Abkhazia’s and
South Ossetia’s independence. Others said that Medvedev wanted to look
like a peacekmaker for the coming elections. There are also other
possible answers. Dmitry Medvedev himself believed that his role in
the peace process was positive. “I paid much attention to the issue. I
guess no other politician was so active in this field. I believe it
was necessary and good work. We managed to approach a resolution of
the conflict. I am absolutely certain about that,” he told Azerbaijani
journalists before leaving the Kremlin.

Intensive talks tend to prevent wars. Whether President Medvedev
believed in that or not is unclear. Anyway, during his reign meetings
of the three presidents were especially frequent and no military
conflict took place. One can say that this alone was a remarkable
achievement.

Deutsche Welle, Germany
Aug 10 2014

Opinion: Bitter realization in Turkey

Date 11.08.2014
Author Baha Güngör

The Turkish presidential election is decided: Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan will become head of state. It’s a bitter win, and not
just for opponents of further Islamization, says DW’s Baha Güngör.

The will of the Turkish citizens, who for the first time were able to
select their head of state on Sunday (10.08.2014), was clear: With a
solid lead, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan surpassed the
50-percent threshold in the first round and was elected president.

The outcome was fully democratic and therefore irrefutable. That’s one
side of the coin. But on the other side is the fear that Turkey could
now head further down the path of transformation into an Islamic
republic – with increasing religious requirements for citizens in
everyday life.

With Erdogan’s victory, the secular reforms of Turkey’s founder
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk fall further to pieces. Though they were loath
to admit it in recent years, the arrogance of the country’s Kemalist
elite in the face of the many problems of the Turkish people in daily
life has led to the current political status quo.

As a result, Erdogan’s Islamic-conservative Justice and Development
Party (AKP) was able to steadily build on its landslide 34 percent win
in 2002 to almost 50 percent in parliamentary elections three years
ago. In the end, the AKP won every election and has now crowned its
rise to overwhelming political power with the election of its leader
and head of government to the position of president.

Baha Güngör heads DW’s Turkish program

Erdogan knows what ordinary citizens want

The AKP emerged from the ruins of four religious parties, outlawed
between the late 1960s and the second half of the 1990s by the
military and deemed by the Constitutional Court to be a “center for
fundamentalist activities.” Based on the experience of these early
parties, Erdogan knows exactly what the average citizen needs and
wants. This insight has now been recognized by the voters. But above
all, Erdogan was chosen because he gave the Turkish people a whole new
sense of self-esteem based on religious values.

The fact that freedom of expression and the press and democratic
values have been severely restricted over the last decade, and that
Turkey ranks poorly when compared to international standards, does not
interest Erdogan in the slightest. His supporters have also ignored
the many allegations of corruption and abuse leveled at the prime
minister, his family and his inner circle – they’re the price to pay
for relative prosperity.

A ‘new’ Turkey

Erdogan will be president for the next five years. But the 60-year-old
will most likely remain in charge for a second term, that can already
be assumed. As a result, when the Turkish Republic marks its 100th
anniversary in 2023, he will go down in history as the man who will
have reversed nearly all of Ataturk’s reforms. A new regime based on a
presidential system with a marginalized parliament is very likely,
probably the reason why Erdogan is always speaking of the “old” and
“new” Turkey.

More than 52 percent of the electorate voted for Erdogan as new president

His main rival, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, achieved just under 39 percent
of the votes cast – even running with the support of 14 politicial
parties. The 41-year-old Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas,
meanwhile, enjoyed a moderate success with just over 9 percent of the
vote, a possible sign that his pro-Kurdish HDP could cross the
10-percent threshold required for representation for the first time in
the next parliamentary elections in 2015.

Europe’s waning influence

Erdogan may be respected by some in Turkey, but he still definitely
needs to work on his reputation abroad. Surrounded by ongoing crises
in places like Iraq and Syria, and the conflicts in Gaza/Israel and
Ukraine/Russia, not to mention the recently renewed fighting between
Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Erdogan must
overcome fears that he will only add fuel to these fires. It’s
something he has often done in the past.

The EU – and especially Germany – will have to cope with an
increasingly uncomfortable relationship with Erdogan. The EU-Turkey
adventure is inexorably drawing to a close. This isn’t the end of the
world, but the EU’s influence on developments in Turkey is likely to
decrease. Whether that’s good for European interests in the region
remains to be seen.

LE CALVAIRE DES ARMENIENS DE SYRIE
Deux Arméniens tués hier soir à Alep

Hier 9 août vers 21 heures, deux Arméniens furent tués dans
l’explosion d’un obus dans le quartier arménien Nor Kiugh à Alep
(Syrie). Les deux victimes sont Harout Sarkissian et Melkon Balian.
Selon des informations parvenues du bureau de l’Eglise arménienne
d’Alep, il y a également quelques blessés graves. Avant les
évènements, la communauté arménienne de Syrie était estimée à près de
70 000 membres habitant Alep, Damas, Latakié, Homs, Kamishli, Hassak,
Rakka ou Kessab. Aujourd’hui leur nombre est estimé à moins de 35 000
membres.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 10 août 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

Sargsyan’s question: What paragraph of UN resolutions Azerbaijan executed?

Sunday,August 10

During the meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Russian
President Vladimir Putin, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said
that “the UN adopted four resolutions demanding an immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of Armenian occupation forces from
Azerbaijani territory. Unfortunately, these resolutions have remained
on paper for over 20 years”.

“I hope that in the near future we will find a peaceful, negotiated
solution that will be in line with the norms and principles of
international law and in line with justice,” Aliyev said.

According to Interfax, for his part Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
asked I. Aliyev if Azerbaijan has fulfilled the requirements that the
UN resolutions set for it.

“The Azerbaijani side constantly refers to four resolutions of the UN.
My rhetorical question to Mr. Aliyev is: What paragraph of those
resolutions has been executed by Azerbaijan?” Armenian president said.

He added that Armenia fulfilled the requirements and exercised its
influence so that no hostilities could take place.

S. Sargsyan also said that in the 1990s the sides reached an opinion
that there can be no military solution to the conflict.

“And if we accuse each other again, I think the conflict will not be
resolved for a long time,” the Armenian leader said.
He stressed that “the solution of this issue stems from the national
interests of Armenia”.

Iran plane ‘crashes near Tehran airport’

10:20 * 10.08.14

More than 40 people were killed when a small passengers plane crashed
near an airport in the Iranian capital Tehran, Iranian state TV
reports.

The aircraft went down at Mehrabad airport, in the west of the city,
on Sunday morning, state media said.

The plane was reportedly heading to the eastern city of Tabas.

Iran has suffered a series of plane crashes, blamed on its ageing
aircraft and poor maintenance record.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Trend, Azerbaijan
Aug 9 2014

Turkey will always support Azerbaijan, FM says

Baku, Azerbaijan, August 9
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:

Turkey will always support Azerbaijan, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu said during a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani
counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, Turkish Anadolu agency reported.

Turkish foreign minister also stressed that the escalation of tension
on the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact line is the result of the impact
of the Ukrainian crisis on the South Caucasus region.

Armenian armed forces launched a diversion on the night of July
31-August 1, when reconnaissance and sabotage groups tried to cross
the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops through the
territories of Aghdam and Terter regions.

Armenia’s reconnaissance and sabotage group attacked the positions of
Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam and
Agdere regions on the night of August 1-2. Azerbaijan managed to
locate the group and the sabotage attempt was prevented.

During the recent days, Azerbaijani positions have been constantly
under attack, and 13 servicemen have been killed, several more were
wounded. Armenian side suffered more losses while trying to hide this
fact from the public.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result
of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent
of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven
surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently
holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

Squawka Football News
Aug 9 2014

Should Liverpool regret missing out on Mkhitaryan or is Coutinho an upgrade?

By Sam Jordan
Posted on August 9, 2014

Liverpool host German side Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, in a highly
anticipated pre-season clash.

The Reds had a superb campaign last season, faltering in the closing
stages. Dortmund finished second to Pep Guardiola’s rampant Bayern
Munich. The sold-out match up between these two European heavyweights
is sure to be worth watching.

Arsenal and Liverpool target Marco Reus is still not fit enough to
feature in the game, which turns fans’ and pundits’ attention to the
creative brilliance of the Reds’ Philippe Coutinho and Dis Borussen’s
Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Liverpool tried to sign the Dortmund star when he was plying his trade
in Ukraine for Shakhtar Donetsk, however the Armenian playmaker chose
to the move to Germany. Their failure to land the 25-year-old allowed
Philippe Coutinho to establish himself as a key creative cog in
Brendan Rodgers’ Merseyside machine.

Mkhitaryan is three years older than the Liverpool man and both are
vital to their sides. It will be interesting to watch them in action
this weekend.

Talksport linked Liverpool with a move for the talented Dortmund man
this year and many Reds’ fans were sad to miss out on him last time,
but is he much better than the man they have?

In terms of goals scored, the Armenian is the more prolific of the two
playmakers, netting nine goals in 30 Bundesliga appearances last
season. Coutinho managed five in 33 Premier League outings.

Mkhitaryan’s shooting accuracy was considerably more impressive than
Coutinho’s too, hitting the target with 60% of his attempts compared
to Coutinho’s 38%.

Assists too, favour Mkhitaryan. He created ten goals for Dortmund in
2013-14, whilst Coutinho managed to provide seven. It would appear
that the older man is the more efficient of the two.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug 9 2014

Karabakh conflict has been on too long and needs to be settled

World
August 09, 18:14 UTC+4 SOCHI

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Saturday

SOCHI, August 09, 17:31 /ITAR-TASS/. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has
been on too long and needs to be resolved, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in
Sochi on Saturday.

“We discussed the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in
Karabakh which has been going on for too long a time and needs to be
resolved,” the president said.

Aliyev said earlier this week that the latest events in
Nagorno-Karabakh should stir international mediators into action and
noted that hopes that peace were still alive. “Negotiations are still
underway and there are certain hopes,” he said.

The president stressed that the main mission of the international
mediators was to settle the conflict, not to freeze it or strengthen
the confidence-building process. “I believe that the latest events
will stir international mediators into action,” he said.

He said Azerbaijan wanted peace but at the same time pointed out that
the “neither war nor peace” situation could not last forever.

Speaking at a meeting with people in the Agdam District in
Nagorno-Karabakh, where tensions have escalated lately, Aliyev assured
them that the Azerbaijani army “can fulfill any task”.

He sees there was no need for mobilisation in the country for the time
being. “Mobilisation can be declared if necessary but there is no such
need now,” he said, adding that his country would step up efforts
towards settling the conflict.

“These efforts are going in all directions: internal policy, economic
power, military might, and the strengthening of our international
positions,” the president said.

He said the latest events showed that the Karabkah conflict was not
frozen as many international organisations were saying.

Aliyev said the resolution of the Karabakh conflict would remain his priority.

He said earlier that his country was using political and economic
factors to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully.

He stressed that Azerbaijan could solve the problem by force, but “we
think the potential of negotiations has not been used up yet”.

“Using political, economic and military pressure we will try to get
the issue solved peacefully. Our economic, political and military
potential is quite strong and this factor will play a positive role at
the talks,” the president said, adding that the conflict could not
remain frozen.

Aliyev regretted the absence of progress in the resolution of the
conflict despite the international mediators’ efforts. “We are of the
opinion that the mediators dealing with this [Karabakh] issue are more
interested in keeping the situation in its present state. Their main
interest is in preserving stability and preventing a war in the
region. We also want peace. But at the same time we want to see truth
and justice restored and international law triumphing,” he said.

The president also believes that the conflict should be settled
“cardinally”. “Half-solutions can only be an interim step. We should
not forget the main goal. The people of Azerbaijan should return to
the occupied territories,” he said.

He stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians could get a high status
of autonomy within Azerbaijan. “We proposed this and this approach is
based on the most positive experience the world and Europe have,” he
added.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began on February 22, 1988. On November
29, 1989 direct rule in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended and Azerbaijan
regained control of the region. However later a joint session of the
Armenian parliament and the top legislative body of Nagorno-Karabakh
proclaimed the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

On December 10, 1991, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum,
boycotted by local Azeris, which approved the creation of an
independent state.

The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after both Armenia and
Azerbaijan obtained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By the
end of 1993, the conflict had caused thousands of casualties and
created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides. An unofficial
ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994.

As of August, 2008, the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group were
attempting to negotiate a full settlement of the conflict. On August
2, 2008, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan travelled to Moscow for talks with Dmitry Medvedev, who
was Russian president at the time. As a result, the three presidents
signed an agreement that calls for talks on a political settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.